Overview:

The Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

A Reflection for the Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. (Ps 27)

Find today’s readings here.

I can repeat the prayer, but do I believe it?

We have many worries these days—starting with whether the robots are going to kill us all by the end of the decade. We have money troubles, war troubles, political troubles, family troubles. We may feel like we’re sinking into a hopeless sea. But today’s Responsorial Psalm offers us a spiritual life jacket. Psalm 27 encourages us to seek God’s presence, to be courageous and patient and hopeful. It tells us to be stouthearted, a word the Cambridge Dictionary calls “someone who stands strong and does not give up.” I immediately visualize the guards at Buckingham Palace.

But I suppose if Job can be stouthearted after all his trials and tragedies, we can too. Job in the first reading is confident that his “Vindicator lives, and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust.” Somehow Job keeps on believing that he will see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. “I shall see God,” he even proclaims. It seems that Job is a role model for the ages.

The 36 pairs of disciples whom Jesus sends forth as missionaries in today’s Gospel have to be similarly stouthearted, as they are instructed to “carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals” on their travels, a level of trust I can only imagine. They are to persist and to proclaim that “the Kingdom of God is at hand.” Their bold message is a promise that the followers of Jesus will indeed see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. 

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, whose ‘Little Way’ is rooted in a sweeter stoutheartedness. St. Thérèse, also known as the Little Flower, espoused a simple but profound vocation: only to love. By performing her small everyday acts of service with great love, St. Thérèse, during her brief time on earth, brought about the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. 

So maybe, just maybe, when the poet Mary Oliver asks us, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do/ with your one wild and precious life?,” our most stouthearted answer is “To see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.” 

Valerie Schultz is a freelance writer, a columnist for The Bakersfield Californian and the author of Till the Moon Be No More: The Grit and Grace of Growing Older. She lives on the Oregon Coast.